In more than 20 years of working with autoimmune patients, one of the most diverse autoimmune diseases I have encountered is lupus.
Because it can affect so many different parts of the body, it can be difficult to diagnose and manage. It can also have more serious effects on health, such as when the blood vessels are involved, something I illustrate in my patient case below.
Lupus is more formally known as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Although researchers have identified multiple types of lupus, the truth is that lupus manifests in different ways for different people.
Because lupus is an autoimmune attack against DNA, the disease can manifest in the joints, the brain, the skin, the organs, or other tissues. That’s what makes it so difficult to diagnose….